Another gay coming of age romance, an OK read. ( )

"The same thing with surfing. If you had a tan, and walked around going "Dude" all the time, you were just another cartoon, like gay people on television. No, being a surfer meant you got out, faced your own fears and lack of expertise, and did it. It was like being queer. The rush came from getting better at it." -Matthew, 18
Indeed Matt has gone through an adolescence that is drastically different from many of his peers, one that is filled with fears, temptations, and heartbreaking relationships. At 18, few months away from his high school graduation, Matt recounts with his uncle Tiger, who is merely 8 years older than he, at his grandmother's funeral. Matt only vaguely remembers his uncle and is always haunted by the incident when he caught Tiger making out with a brawny air force officer in the dark empty theater balcony. Not only did Matt's aunts begrudge with Tiger, they did not bother to notify him of the funeral. Parting with his boyfriend Chris who has gone off to college, Matt realizes the need for a change in his life. He loves his mother but whose self-righteousness has shunned him and made his life around the house difficult. Tiger has graciously offered Matt to stay with him and his partner Mark at the beach and teaches him surveying. Aside from work and school, Matt is taught how to surf by Tiger and Mark who get him a surfing board, a wet suit, and a leash and a nose guard as graduation gift.

This novel is a very quick and relaxing read. I finish it in one sitting. It's almost like an armchair travel book of the North Carolina coast. Matt tells the story and he flips back and forth on his life before and after moving to the beach. So you will see parallel stories running concurrently, particularly reminiscence of Chris and his novel gay adventures with a married man Tillett, who only uses him for pleasure. Aside from the erotic and graphic prose (which is inevitable and steamy), the book also explores the role of Tiger on Matt. Under the mentorship of Tiger and Mark, along with his own trials and errors, Matt comes to establish the metes and bounds of relationships. He realizes he cannot "look for himself in other people". The secret (I will not give it away) that accounts for the family grudge against Tiger has only drawn Matt closer to his uncle ever. For Matt, learning about his uncle (and his past and his relationship with Mark who divorces his wife) has always been a part of learning about himself. Tiger has blazed the trail Matt wishes to go. He has taught Matt how good and difficult it is to have a lover and a life together. When Matt reunions with his friend Jeep and finds out about his secret crush on him, Matt is shocked but approaches his best friend with passion. In a sense, the book is very "real" in capturing the fear, the helplessness, the love, the naivete, the innocence, the stupidity, the jealousy, and the sorry-but-I-cannot-help-it feeling of an 18 year old who ventures out into the queer life. ( )